Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 48, NWS Birmingham, AL
NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 5, 1997, 1:49 PM CST for Madison County, Alabama. It was in force for 41 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 5, 1997, 1:49 PM CST (19:49 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 5, 1997, 2:30 PM CST
- In force
- 41 min
- Issued by
- NWS Birmingham, AL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Madison County, AL
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 2:25 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Madison, AL |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 11:30 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Birmingham, AL (KBMX), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 177 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 26 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -139 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 616 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 118 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 178 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHSV 051949 RRA TORHSV ALC089-052030- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 149 PM CST WED MAR 5 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HUNTSVILLE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH ALABAMA ...NORTHERN MADISON COUNTY AT 147 PM CST RADAR AT HUNTSVILLE SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN NORTHWEST MADISON COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS CONTINUE FOR MADISON MORGAN LAWRENCE AND LIMESTONE COUNTIES UNTIL 230 PM CST. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 5, 11:58 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Colbert, Lauderdale | 62 min |
| Mar 5, 12:19 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Franklin | 56 min |
| Mar 5, 12:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Marion | 64 min |
| Mar 5, 1:05 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Winston | 50 min |
| Mar 5, 1:23 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Lawrence, Limestone | 67 min |
| Mar 5, 1:35 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Madison, Morgan | 55 min |
| Mar 5, 1:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Cullman | 64 min |
| Mar 5, 2:28 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Blount | 47 min |
| Mar 5, 2:35 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Jackson, Marshall | 55 min |
| Mar 5, 2:58 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | Etowah | 62 min |
| Mar 5, 3:07 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BMX | DeKalb | 68 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.